“No, your majesty, but I want to share my reward with the guard at the palace gates.”

“What do you mean?” The king was very puzzled.

The fisherman then explained, “When I was bringing the fish to you, the guard at the palace gate would not let me in unless I promised to give him half of my reward. Since the reward I have asked for is fifty strokes of the whip, and since I have now received half of them, the guard should receive the other twenty-five strokes.”

Immediately the guard was brought before the king. “Is it true that this fisherman promised to give you half of his reward?” questioned the king.

The guard, not knowing what had happened but thinking that he was to be rewarded, replied that it was true.

This made the king very angry. He ordered the guard to be taken away and whipped twenty-five times—his reward as promised by the fisherman.

Then, turning to the fisherman, the king said, “Since you have given half of your reward away, do you wish for something else?”

“No, your majesty,” replied the fisherman. “I ask for nothing more than to serve you as a loyal subject.”

And the brave fisherman left the palace and continued to serve his king.